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A news leak is a disclosure of embargoed information in advance of its official release, or the unsanctioned release of confidential information.

Types of news leaks[link]

Leaks are often made by employees of an organization who happened to have access to interesting information but who are not officially authorized to disclose it to the press. They may believe that doing so is in the public interest due to the need for speedy publication, because it otherwise would not have been able to be made public, or simply as self-promotion, to elevate the leaker as a person of importance. Leaks can be intentional or unintentional. A leaker may be doing the journalist a personal favor (possibly in exchange for future cooperation), or simply wishes to disseminate secret information in order to affect the news. The latter type of leak is often made anonymously.

Sometimes partial information is released to the media off the record in advance of a press release to "prepare" the press or the public for the official announcement. This may also be intended to allow journalists more time to prepare more extensive coverage, which can then be published immediately after the official release. This technique is designed to maximize the impact of the announcement. It might be considered an element of political 'spin', or news management.

Some people who leak information to the media are seeking to manipulate coverage. Cloaking information in secrecy may make it seem more valuable to journalists, and anonymity reduces the ability of others to cross-check or discredit the information.

Some leaks are made in the open; for example, politicians who (whether inadvertently or otherwise) disclose classified or confidential information while speaking to the press.

Reasons for leaks[link]

• Politicians and policy-makers may wish to judge the reaction of the public to their plans before committing (a trial balloon). Leaked information may be plausibly denied without blame for proposed unpopular measures affecting their perpetrators.
• People with access to confidential information may find it to their advantage to make it public, without themselves appearing to be responsible for publishing the information. For example, information which will embarrass political opponents, or cause damage to national security, may be leaked.
• People privy to secret information about matters which they consider to be morally wrong or against the public interest — often referred to as "whistleblowers" — may leak the information.

Notable news leaks[link]

USA[link]

• The Pentagon Papers, a top-secret United States Department of Defense history of the United States' political-military involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967. Made public on the front page of the New York Times in 1971
• A source known as Deep Throat leaked information related to the Watergate scandal of 1972 to The Washington Post.
• Columnist Robert Novak published a leak, outing CIA agent Valerie Plame in 2003.
• The United States diplomatic cables leak of November 2010 in which the organisation Wikileaks began releasing details of 251,287 US diplomatic cables.

UK[link]

• Spies for Peace, a group of anti-war activists associated with CND and the Committee of 100 who publicized government preparations for rule after a nuclear war. In 1963 they broke into a secret government bunker where they photographed and copied documents. They published this information in a pamphlet, Danger! Official Secret RSG-6. Four thousand copies were sent to the national press, politicians and peace movement activists.

Israel[link]

• Mordechai Vanunu an Israeli nuclear technician who revealed details of Israel's nuclear weapons program to the British press in 1986
• Anat Kamm leaked classified documents from the Israeli Defense Force in 2008, which suggested the Israeli military had been engaged in extrajudicial killings.

See also[link]

• Internet leak
• Wikileaks

Books and references[link]

• Blair Jr., Clay, Silent Victory: The US Submarine War against Japan, Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2001
• Lanning, Michael Lee (Lt. Col.), Senseless Secrets: The Failures of U.S. Military Intelligence from George Washington to the Present, Carol Publishing Group, 1995

References[link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2008)

News is the communication of selected^[1] information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third-party or mass audience.

Etymology[link]

One theory claims that the English word "news" developed in the 14th century as a special use of the plural form of "new". In Middle English, the equivalent word was newes, like the French nouvelles and the German neues. Similar developments are found in the Slavic languages – the Czech and Slovak noviny (from nový, "new"), the cognate Polish nowiny and Russian novosti – and in the Celtic languages: the Welsh newyddion (from newydd) and the Cornish nowodhow (from nowydh).

History[link]

Before the invention of newspapers in the early 17th century, official government bulletins and edicts were circulated at times in some centralized empires.^[2]

The first documented use of an organized courier service for the diffusion of written documents is in Egypt, where Pharaohs used couriers for the diffusion of their decrees in the territory of the State (2400 BC).^[3] This practice almost certainly has roots in the much older practice of oral messaging and may have been built on a pre-existing infrastructure.

In Ancient Rome, Acta Diurna, or government announcement bulletins, were made public by Julius Caesar. They were carved in metal or stone and posted in public places.

In China, early government-produced news sheets, called tipao, circulated among court officials during the late Han dynasty (second and third centuries AD). Between 713 and 734, the Kaiyuan Za Bao ("Bulletin of the Court") of the Chinese Tang Dynasty published government news; it was handwritten on silk and read by government officials. In 1582 there was the first reference to privately published newssheets in Beijing, during the late Ming Dynasty.^[4]

In Early modern Europe, increased cross-border interaction created a rising need for information which was met by concise handwritten newssheets. In 1556, the government of Venice first published the monthly Notizie scritte, which cost one gazetta.^[5] These avvisi were handwritten newsletters and used to convey political, military, and economic news quickly and efficiently to Italian cities (1500–1700) — sharing some characteristics of newspapers though usually not considered true newspapers.^[6] Due to low literacy rates, news was at times disseminated by town criers.

Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien, from 1605, is recognized as the world's first newspaper.^[7]

The oldest news agency is the Agence France-Presse (AFP).^[8] It was founded in 1835 by a Parisian translator and advertising agent, Charles-Louis Havas as Agence Havas.

In modern times, printed news had to be phoned in to a newsroom or brought there by a reporter, where it was typed and either transmitted over wire services or edited and manually set in type along with other news stories for a specific edition. Today, the term "breaking news" has become trite as commercial broadcasting United States cable news services that are available 24-hours a day use live satellite technology to bring current events into consumers' homes as the event occurs. Events that used to take hours or days to become common knowledge in towns or in nations are fed instantaneously to consumers via radio, television, mobile phone, and the Internet.

Newspapers[link]

Most large cities in the United States historically had morning and afternoon newspapers. As the media evolved and news outlets increased to the point of near over-saturation, most afternoon newspapers were shut down. Morning newspapers have been gradually losing circulation, according to reports advanced by the papers themselves. Commonly, news content should contain the "Five Ws" (who, what, when, where, why, and also how) of an event. There should be no questions remaining. Newspapers normally place hard news stories on the first pages, so the most important information is at the beginning. Busy readers can read as little or as much as they desire. Local stations and networks with a set format must take news stories and break them down into the most important aspects due to time constraints. Cable news channels such as BBC News, Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN, are able to take advantage of a story, sacrificing other, decidedly less important stories, and giving as much detail about breaking news as possible.

News organizations are often expected to aim for objectivity; reporters claim to try to cover all sides of an issue without bias, as compared to commentators or analysts, who provide opinion or personal point-of-view. The result is a laying out of facts in a sterile, noncommittal manner, and then standing back to "let the reader decide" which view is true.^[9] Several governments impose certain constraints or police news organizations against bias. In the United Kingdom, for example, limits are set by the government agency Ofcom, the Office of Communications. Both newspapers and broadcast news programs in the United States are generally expected to remain neutral and avoid bias except for clearly indicated editorial articles or segments. Many single-party governments have operated state-run news organizations, which may present the government's views.

Even in those situations where objectivity is expected, it is difficult to achieve, and individual journalists may fall foul of their own personal bias, or succumb to commercial or political pressure. Similarly, the objectivity of news organizations owned by conglomerated corporations fairly may be questioned, in light of the natural incentive for such groups to report news in a manner intended to advance the conglomerate's financial interests. Individuals and organizations who are the subject of news reports may use news management techniques to try to make a favourable impression.^[10] Because each individual has a particular point of view, it is recognized that there can be no absolute objectivity in news reporting.^[11]

Newsworthiness[link]

Newsworthiness is defined as a subject having sufficient relevance to the public or a special audience to warrant press attention or coverage.^[12]

In some countries and at some points in history, what news media and the public have considered "newsworthy" has met different definitions, such as the notion of news values.^[13] For example, mid-twentieth-century news reporting in the United States focused on political and local issues with important socio-economic impacts, such as the landing of a living person on the moon or the cold war. More recently, the focus similarly remains on political and local issues; however, the news mass media now comes under criticism for over-emphasis on "non-news" and "gossip" such as celebrities' personal social issues, local issues of little merit, as well as biased sensationalism of political topics such as terrorism and the economy. The dominance of celebrity and social news, the blurring of the boundary between news and reality shows and other popular culture, and the advent of citizen journalism may suggest that the nature of ‘news’ and news values are evolving and that traditional models of the news process are now only partially relevant.^[14] Newsworthiness does not only depend on the topic, but also the presentation of the topic and the selection of information from that topic.

New ecology of news[link]

“Everything we thought we once knew about journalism needs to be rethought in the Digital Age”,^[15] professor of Sociology and Communication Michael Schudson points out. Today the work of journalism can be done from anywhere and done well. It requires no more than a reporter and a laptop. In that way, journalistic authority seems to have become more individual- and less institution-based. But does the individual reporter always have to be an actual journalist? Or can journalistic work be done from anywhere and by anyone? These are questions that refers to the core of journalistic practice and the definition of “news” itself. As Schudson has given emphasis to, the answer is not easily found; “the ground journalists walk upon is shaking, and the experience for both those who work in the field and those on the outside studying it is dizzying”.^[15]

Schudson has identified the following six specific areas where the ecology of news in his opinion has changed: 1. The line between the reader and writer has blurred 2. The distinction among tweet, blog post, newspaper story, magazine article, and book has blurred 3. The line between professionals and amateurs has blurred, and a variety of “pro-am” relationships has emerged 4. The boundaries delineating for-profit, public, and non-profit media have blurred, and the cooperation across these models of financing has developed 5. Within commercial news organizations, the line between the news room and the business office has blurred 6. The line between old media and new media has blurred, practically beyond recognition ^[16]

These alterations inevitably has fundamental ramifications for the contemporary ecology of news. “The boundaries of journalism, which just a few years ago seemed relatively clear, and permanent, have become less distinct, and this blurring, while potentially the foundation of progress even as it is the source of risk, has given rise to a new set of journalistic principles and practices”,^[17] Schudson puts it. It is indeed complex, but it seems to be the future.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Stephens, Mitchell. "The History of News - 3rd Ed" Oxford University Press, New York, 2007.

External links[link]

• News media by country at the Open Directory Project

Usually unintended and therefore undesired, a leak is a way (usually an opening) for fluid to escape a container or fluid-containing system, such as a tank or a ship's hull, through which the contents of the container can escape or outside matter can enter the container. The word "leak" is also used as a verb; matter going through the opening is said to leak. The entry, exit, or exchange of matter through the leak is called leakage, the subject of another disambiguation article. The matter leaking in or out can be gas, liquid, a highly viscous paste, or even a solid such as a powdered or granular solid or other solid particles. A leak can be between two (or more) fluid-containing systems, allowing transfer of matter from either system to the other, or even an exchange of matter between them. Leakage of matter into a container or other system could be called inleakage. Leakage of matter out of a container or other system could be called outleakage. The presence of a leak does not necessarily mean there is always leakage of matter; it just implies there could be leakage through the opening. If the container or system is empty in an empty environment, there is no leakage at that time. Sometimes the word "leak" is used to refer to leakage in a certain situation, for example the passing or making public of secret information.

Leak types and possible causes[link]

Types of leak openings include a puncture, gash, rust or other corrosion hole, very tiny pinhole leak (possibly in imperfect welds), crack or microcrack, or inadequate sealing between components or parts joined together. When there is a puncture, the size and shape of the leak can often be seen, but in many other cases, the size and shape of the leak opening may not be so obvious. In many cases, the location of a leak can be determined by seeing material drip out at a certain place, although the leak opening itself is not obvious. In some cases, it may known or suspected there is a leak, but even the location of the leak is not known. Since leak openings are often so irregular, leaks are sometimes sized by the leakage rate, as in volume of fluid leaked per time, rather than the size of the opening.

Common types of leaks for many people include leaks in vehicle tires, causing air to leak out resulting in flat tires, and leaks in containers, spilling the contents. Leaks can occur or develop in many different kinds of household, building, vehicle, marine, aircraft, or industrial fluid systems, whether the fluid is a gas or liquid. Leaks in vehicle hydraulic systems such as brake or power steering lines could cause outleakage of brake or power steering fluid resulting in failure of the brakes, power steering, or other hydraulic system. Also possible are leaks of engine coolant - particularly in the radiator and at the water pump seal, transmission fluid, motor oil, and refrigerant in the air conditioning system. Some of these vehicle fluids have different colors to help identify the type of leaking fluid.

The water supply system or a wastewater system in a house or other building may have a leak in any of numerous locations, causing dripping out or spillage of the water. Gas leaks, e.g. in natural gas lines allow flammable and potentially explosive gas to leak out, resulting in a hazardous situation. Leaks of refrigerant may occur in refrigerators or air conditioning systems, large and small. Some industrial plants, especially chemical and power plants, have numerous fluid systems containing many types of liquid or gas chemicals, sometimes at high temperature and/or pressure. An example of a possible industrial location of a leak between two fluid systems includes a leak between the shell and tube sides in a heat exchanger, potentially contaminating either or both fluid systems with the other fluid. A system holding a full or partial vacuum may have a leak causing inleakage of air from the outside. Hazmat procedures and/or teams may become involved when leakage or spillage of hazardous materials occurs. Leaks while transporting hazardous materials could result in danger; for example, when accidents occur. However, even leakage of steam can be dangerous because of the high temperature and energy of the steam.

Leakage of air or other gas out of hot air balloons, dirigibles, or cabins of airplanes could present dangerous situations. A leak could even be inside a body, such as a hole in the septum between heart ventricles causing an exchange of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood, or a fistula between bodily cavities such as between vagina and rectum.

There can be numerous causes of leaks. Leaks can occur from the outset even during construction or initial manufacture/assembly of fluid systems. Pipes, tubing, valves, fittings, or other components may be improperly joined or welded together. Components with threads may be improperly screwed together. Leaks can be caused by damage; for example, punctures or fracture. Often leaks are the result of deterioration of materials from wear or aging, such as rusting or other corrosion or decomposition of elastomers or similar polymer materials used as gaskets or other seals. For example, wearing out of faucet washers causes water to leak at the faucets. Cracks may result from either outright damage, or wearing out by stress such as fatigue failure or corrosion such as stress corrosion cracking. Wearing out of a surface between a disk and its seat in a valve could cause a leak between ports (valve inlets or outlets). Wearing out of packing around a turning valve stem or rotating centrifugal pump shaft could develop into fluid outleakage into the environment. For some frequently operating centrifugal pumps, such leakage is so expected that provisions are made for carrying away the leakage. Similarly, wearing out of seals or packing around piston-driven pumps could also develop into outleakage to the environment.

The pressure difference between both sides of the leak can affect the movement of material through the leak. Fluids will commonly move from the higher pressure side to the lower pressure side. The larger the pressure difference, the more leakage there will typically be. The fluid pressures on both sides include the hydrostatic pressure, which is pressure due to the weight from the height of fluid level above the leak. When the pressures are about equal, there can be an exchange of fluids between both sides, or little to no net movement of fluid across the leak.

Leak testing[link]

Containers, vessels, enclosures, or other fluid system are sometimes tested for leaks - to see if there is any leakage and to find where the leaks are so corrective action can be taken. There are several methods for leak testing, depending on the situation. Sometimes leakage of fluid may make a sound which can be detected. Tires, engine radiators, and maybe some other smaller vessels may be tested by pressurizing them with air and submerging them in water to see where air bubbles come out to indicate a leak. If submerging in water is not possible, then pressurization with air followed by covering the area to be tested with a soap solution is done to see if soap bubbles form, which indicate a leak. Other types of testing for gas leaks may involve testing for the outleaking gases with sensors which can detect that gas, for example - special sensing instruments for detecting natural gas. U.S. federal safety law now requires natural gas companies to conduct testing for gas leaks upstream of their customer's gas meters. Where liquids are used, special color dyes may be added to help see the leakage. Other detectable substances in one of the liquids may be tested, such as saline to find a leak in a sea water system, or detectable substances may even be deliberately added to test for leakage.

Newly constructed, fabricated, or repaired systems or other vessels are sometimes tested to verify satisfactory production or repair. Plumbers often test for leaks after working on a water or other fluid system. A vessel or system is sometimes pressure tested by filling with air and the pressure monitored to see if it drops, indicating a leak. A very commonly used test after new construction or repair is a hydrostatic test, sometimes called a pressure test. In a hydrostatic test, a system is pressurized with water to look for a drop in pressure or to see where it leaks out. Helium testing may be done to detect for any very small leakage such as when testing certain diaphragm or bellows valves, which are made to be practically leak-proof. Helium and hydrogen have very small molecules which can go through very small leaks.

Leak testing is part of the non-destructive test NDT portfolio that can be applied to an art to verify its conformity; depending on material, pressure, leak tightness specifications, different methods can be applied. International standards has been defined to assist in these choices. For example BS EN 1779:1999; it applies to assessment of leak tightness by indication or measurement of gas leakage, but excludes hydrostatic, ultrasonic or electromagnetic methods. Other standards also apply:

• BS EN 13184:2001 Non-destructive testing. Leak testing. Pressure change method

• BS EN 13185:2001 Non-destructive testing. Leak testing. Tracer gas method

• BS EN 13192:2002 Non-destructive testing. Leak testing. Calibration of reference leaks for gases

In shell and tube heat exchangers, Eddy current testing is sometimes done in the tubes to find locations on tubes where there may be leaks or damage which may eventually develop into a leak.

Corrective action for leaks[link]

In complex plants with multiple fluid systems, many interconnecting units holding fluids have isolation valves between them. If there is a leak in a unit, its isolation valves can be shut to "isolate" the unit from the rest of the plant.

Leaks are often repaired by plugging the leaking holes or using a patch to cover them. Leaking tires are often fixed this way. Leaking gaskets, seals, washers, or packing can be replaced. Use of welding, soldering, sealing, or gluing may be other ways to fix leaks. Sometimes, the most practical solution is to replace the leaking unit. Leaking water heaters are often replaced by home or building owners.

If there is a leak in one of the tubes of a shell and tube heat exchanger, that tube can be plugged at both ends with specially sized plugs to isolate the leak. This is done in the plenum(s) at the points where the tube ends connect to the tubesheet(s). Sometimes a damaged but not yet leaking tube is pre-emptively plugged to prevent future leakage. The heat transfer capacity of that tube is lost, but there are usually plenty of other tubes to pick up the heat transfer load.

See also[link]

• Explosion
• Fugitive emissions
• Water alarm

External links[link]

• Pressure Leak Testing Theory

References[link]

Look up bad news in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Bad news may refer to:

• Bad News, a spoof rock band
  • Bad News (Bad News album), 1987 album by Bad News
• Bad News (Ligeia album), the second album by Massachusetts' metalcore band Ligeia
• "Bad News", a song by Johnny Cash from the I Walk the Line album
• Bad News (magazine), a comics magazine published in the early 1980s by Fantagraphics
• Bad News (How I Met Your Mother)

See also[link]

• Good news (disambiguation)

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